Shape: the outline, in one sentence
Say what it is, why you're calling, and the outline: big, round, a spout, three legs. The listener now has a rough form to hang everything else on.
CELPIP GymSpeaking courseLesson 8 · Speaking Task 8, an unusual situation
Make them see it down the phone
Most answers say the thing is strange and leave the person on the phone with nothing to look at. Give the details in a fixed order, and the blur in their head comes into focus one sentence at a time.
6 minutes to read
1
Shape, size, colour, material, place
Run through the five in that order, one sentence each, and you'll never wonder what comes next. Use the thirty seconds of preparation to spot the oddest thing about the object and to find the question you'll ask at the end. Don't write sentences. Scroll to bring one strange object into focus.
Why it scores. A fixed order gives a listener who can't see anything a way to build the picture, and because the next detail is already decided, you don't stop to think.
Content/CoherenceListenability
Size: use your own body
"Up to my chest" and "I couldn't get my arms around it" are sizes anyone can feel, with no numbers to guess.
Colour: say where it changes
One colour is only a label. Say where it changes and why, and a flat shape turns into an object with a history.
Material: what your hand would notice
Name what it's made of, then how it would feel. "Hammered", "dents" and "rusty" are exact words, and exact words are what the listener can picture.
Place: put it somewhere
End on what's around it, and now the picture is sharp. That's fifty seconds. The last ten belong to your question.
On the phone with your aunt0:12 of 1:00
What she pictures
What you see
- Shape
- Size
- Colour
- Material
- Place
I've found the strangest mailbox at a yard sale, and my camera's broken. Picture a big round kettle with a curved spout on one side, on three thin legs.
2
Compare it to things they know
Centimetres mean nothing down the phone. Take each part and hang it on something the listener has seen a hundred times: a camera tripod, a soup bowl, an elephant's trunk. Then use "a bit like… but" once, because the words after "but" are what make the object strange.
Why it scores. A comparison puts a picture in someone's head faster than a measurement, and "shaped like" and "roughly the size of" show range.
VocabularyContent/Coherence
"The spout is long and curved."
"It curves up like an elephant's trunk."
"The lid is round."
"The lid sits on it like an upside-down soup bowl."
"It has three legs."
"It stands on three thin legs, like a camera tripod."
- And the line that shows what's odd: "A bit like a teapot, but big enough to hold your mail."
3
Say what each part is for
Take the object apart out loud, from top to bottom, and give every part a job. Then put the listener's hands on it: "You'd lift this with one finger and drop your letter in." Someone who can't see a thing can still imagine using it.
Why it scores. Going part by part keeps the answer in order, and saying what each part does is what a full description of a strange object needs.
Content/CoherenceTask Fulfillment
- 1
The round flap on top. You'd lift it with one finger and drop your letter in.
- 2
The curved tube at the side. Any rain that gets in runs out through it.
- 3
The little door on the front. You'd undo the catch and take your mail out here.
- 4
The three legs. They push down into the ground, so it can't blow over.
4
Ask the question the prompt wants
The prompt tells you what to ask, usually in its last few words, and asking is part of the job. Find it in the thirty seconds and decide how you'll say it. Then at fifty seconds, stop describing, even mid-thought, and ask. Build the question out of a detail you've already given, so it sounds like a real call.
Why it scores. A description with no question leaves part of the task undone, however good it was. Tying the question to a detail shows you're talking to a person, not reciting.
Task FulfillmentContent/Coherence
"Your camera's broken. Phone your aunt, who has just bought a cottage, describe it fully, and ask whether she'd like you to buy it."
Describing until the clock stopsThe call ends before the question.
Ten seconds kept backThe question starts at fifty seconds.
"It's chest high and a bit rusty, so would you want it at the end of your driveway, or is it too much?"
The usual trap: saying it's strange instead of showing it
"It's so weird, you wouldn't believe it, it's really strange" uses up ten seconds and the listener can't see one thing more. Say it's odd once, then get on with the five details.
The clock, spent well
30 seconds to prepare, 60 to speak30 secondsPreparing: the oddest thing about it, and the question you'll ask.
About 50 secondsShape, size, colour, material, place: about ten seconds each.
The last 10Stop describing, and ask.
Quick hacks for Task 8
Smaller than a move, and just as easy to forget on the day.
- VoiceStart it like a phone call
"Hi, it's me. I'm looking at something and I need your help." Five seconds, and it already sounds like a real call.
- ScreenThe prompt says why a photo won't do
Don't explain that again. The person on the phone needs the object, not the story of your camera.
- WordsLeft and right are theirs, not yours
Say "on the left as you face it". Down the phone, your left is nobody's left.
- If it slipsForgot one of the five? Skip it
The order is a rail to hold, not a rule. A missing colour costs nothing, and stopping to remember it costs five seconds.
- The dayIt's the last thing you'll do
Tired voices trail off. Keep your volume up through the final question: it's the last thing anyone hears from you.
Take this into the test
- 1Shape, size, colour, material, place. One sentence each.
- 2Compare each part to something they've seen, and say what it's for.
- 3At fifty seconds, stop and ask what the prompt wants.